Sakura Hotel DO NOT provide breakfast...so we bot bread the nite b4..
it was close to 10 when we reach Ueno JR station..and the whole station is jam packed wif ppl already!!! all walking towards the direction of Ueno Park...
Ikebukuro (JR Yamanote Line) - Ueno
we juz followed the crowd and within 10min..this was wat we saw..
long stretch of sakura trees lining the side of the pavement and ALOT of ppl...locals and tourists alike...
the sky is gloomy cos there was going to b rain on tat day...(yes! rain again...non-stop rain when we were in Tokyo..damn it!)
couldn't help but feeling sooooo excited..even thou its my 2nd Hanami (1st one wif Okaasan in 2006)..i was still v much in love wif the pretty little flowers! hav to b there to feel the lively atmosphere..even the gloomy threatening sky did not tamper the moods of the ppl..
we walked for a while..and start to settle down for our food which we bot at a convenience store at Ueno Park..
like wat we did in Kyoto, we followed their culture of eating under the sakura trees...haha
i had yaki soba wif karaage...abit sick of eating rice everyday liao..
darling had this bento mix set..
we sat for a while after we fin the food..b4 walk to other areas of the park...
see the canvas sheet on the floor behind us? there's even a rope which enclosed tat particular area...even the Japanese practise kiasuism lah..haha..they hav to chope a strategic place for their Hanami sessions..else no more space mah...so they will put canvas sheet, den put a placard to indicate their name..den we saw other grps of ppl singing karaoke (yes, they will bring the whole set of system there!), drinking to their hearts' content...as early as 11+...we already c some ppl drunk...tsk tsk..
it was a mistake to wear this white jacket...this yr's spring was much colder than wat i experienced in 2006..the world's weather is really changing...by early arp, the temp shd b ard 16-17 degrees C already..but tat day was ard 10 deg C..
we den walked over to the Ameyoko Cho for some shopping...
BIG tomatoes
Prawns..no need for chiller or ice...the temperature is cold enuff to ensure the freshness of the seafood..
there were alot of shops selling Adidas, Nike apparel..dunno if they r authentic or not...but we nvr c anything we like..
den we walked a few streets down to Okachimachi..where there's a supermarket for us to stock up on Japanese tibits!!! i always have 1 bagful of foodstuff whenever i come back fr Japan..so this time not exceptional lah..somore got darling help me to carry..haha
we bot in total close to 70sgd worth of snacks and foodstuff...and we went back to the hotel to put the stuff b4 we proceed to Harajuku for more shopping..
when we went back to the station to take train to Harajuku, i realised i lost my JR pass!!!!!!! OMG!!! w/o the pass, i could not take unltd rides on the train, and we need the pass to get to Odawara to Hakone the next day!! i'm always v sotong..we searched high and low and trekked back the road to the hotel..c if its inside the bags of stuff...all dun hav!
darling asked me to go to Harajuku to shop 1st...while he searched for me..we agreed to meet at 4pm..
Ikebukuro (JR Yamanote Line) - Harajuku
it had started to rain when I reached Harajuku..and i already dun hav much mood to shop anymore...so i juz walked ard...till its almost 4 i went back to the train station to wait for darling...but this was wat i saw:
the whole station was full of ppl!!! i was shoved to and fro a few times by some really incosiderate ppl..the whole place was so chaotic and i'm so worried tat darling cant find me when he comes out..even the human traffic coming out of the station was stuck cos there was no space for them to move out at all! it was REALLY AWFUL!!!
420pm, i still din c darling..start to get worried...keep looking at my phone in case he called..
445pm, i started to panic big time already...he still hasn't called me! where is darling!??? i was really on the verge of crying liao..den suddenly my phone rang..he asked me to get out of the station and look for him at the phone booth across the rd..den he was cut off..
turns out tat he used the japanese phone card to call my sg line..and the credits was only enuff to sustain tat 10 sec of instructions..i dashed out and saw him waiting across the rd...my tears wall juz break open when i saw him lah..he was stuck in the human traffic trying to get out as well...and it took him 45 min to get out lor..as expected, my pass couldn't be found..sigh..so i juz paid for the rest of my train trips lor..(actually i din, only paid for some..can ask me if u wan to noe wat happened...)
the nite was falling...or rather..its the v cloudy sky...
we walked for a while..i got some dresses and stockings...and retail therapy really do worked on me..i felt abit better after some shopping..haha..
went to this restaurant called Otoya (i tink tat's the name)..hav been to this restaurant a few times elsewhere during my previous Japan trips..wat i like abt this restaurant is that all the food r v healthy..cooked wif less oil and season yet still v delicious..best of all..this restaurant is smoke-free...dun understand y japanese still hav not banned smoking in restaurants...there r so many ppl who dun smoke and hav to endure their nasty habit...
still feeling upset...
my teriyaki don..
forgot to take darling's rice + noodles set till he almost fin..but he said its not bad..maybe he's hungry helping me run ard looking for the damn pass..
our next stop is Odaiba..supposed to go there on the 1st nite in Tokyo..but it was raining then..so we didnt want go...who noes it will still b raining on this day!
hav to take a monorail tat will pass by the Tokyo's Rainbow bridge...its a suspension bridge which is an icon of Tokyo..on our way we saw the Tokyo Tower as well..
Harajuku (JR Yamanote Line) - Shimbashi
Shimbashi (Monorail) - Odaiba
the Stussy signboard...do u c something else other than the word Stussy??
did not get anything fr here since we'll b going to Disney Land..
darling bot me an icecream cone to comfort me..
a nice decor outside the Odaiba Shopping Center..
is this New York or Tokyo???
The Fuji TV Tower
the Tokyo Ferris Wheel
i had wanted to go to the Burberry Blue Label flagship store to check out their latest design..but when i asked the info counter at the Odaiba shopping center at 845...it turns out tat the store is at the other end of Odaiba Park...and its closing at 9... so no pt going anymore...haiz..
we den went back to the hotel..v tired fr the day already...
but had to eat the strawberries we got fr Ameyoko Cho this morning...BIG strawberries..but too bad they werent v sweet..maybe cos its cheap..only 600yen for 2 boxes leh..wat to expect rite? the ones i bot fr Tobu Supermart was 600yen for 1 box and its super sweet lor..
the snacks i got fr the Okachimachi supermart..super super love the pistacho nuts...
the White Lover's choc fr Ishiya..
more snacks..
weather forecast for the next day is oso rainy!!!! argh!
No comments:
Post a Comment